Revisiting the Past
by Meglin
Summary: "Here it was, Rose's eleventh birthday, the day when she would, most assuredly, join the rest of her family in the wizarding world, and James was ruining it by being perfectly awful." Rose is living for magic, Scorpius wants to get away. Title pending
1. Birthdays

**Birthdays**

"JAMES SIRIUS POTTER, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?" The first words that Rose heard upon waking on this most important day were, like most of those at her grandparents' house, directed at her cousin. Here it was, her eleventh birthday, the day when she would, most assuredly, join the rest of her family in the Wizarding world, and James was ruining it by being perfectly awful.

He was probably shoving spiders in his brother's porridge, something that Albus had, in her opinion, probably done nothing to deserve. The younger of the two brothers had inherited the charm (and the looks) of his famous father, while somehow escaping all of his mischievousness. He was the perpetual victim of all the cousins' pranks, never seeming to know how to escape them. James on the other hand was a Weasley from head to toe, his hair was a darker red than that of his many cousins, but he had all of the prankster qualities that his uncles, both living and dead would have treasured.

"It's okay Gramma." The high-pitched voice of Lily, the youngest of that set of cousins carried up the stairs. "He was only trying to get Al to give me a chocolate frog." Lily was, even at nine, always saving the older brother she adored.

"Alright then, but he'd better stop, you have no need of chocolate frogs at this hour." Lily seemed to have calmed Molly down, at least enough so that Rose was willing to risk getting up.

Sliding her feet to the floor she shivered, it was cold in the Burrow despite the fact that was still the middle of August. Once she had gotten used to the temperature she skipped across the room to get dressed, pulling on the first pair of jeans she found, ignoring the fact that they were several inches too short for her gangly legs and topping that with a Gryffindor sweater she had inherited from her father's school days.

Then, nearly bursting with excitement, she bounded down the stairs only to find, to her great disappointment, that there was nothing even remotely out of place in her grandparent's kitchen. The three cousins who had, like her and her younger brother Hugo, spent the night at the Burrow were enjoying a delicious-looking, but ordinary breakfast with her grandparents, all of them looking as if James had not just done something horrible to his younger brother.

Trying to keep the smile that had previously felt immovable on her face, Rose sat down and helped herself to some bacon. Watching the look on her face go from overwhelming excitement to complete despair was too much for James, before she could even finish one piece of bacon he had gotten up from his chair and danced around the room yelling for the world to hear about how Rose had believed she had got no presents. Seeing the look on Rose's face, Molly gave James a stern look before bundling him out of doors with an order about cleaning the chicken coop, a chore that James detested.

"Darling we're doing presents after lunch, once your parents have arrived." Molly smiled warmly at her granddaughter as she shovelled more food onto her plate. "But really dear eat some breakfast and then go change, your nice dress is on the chair in your room, and those jeans are much too short..." She continued rambling on about Rose's clothing, but Rose, safe with the reaffirmations of her family's love ignored her and enjoyed the delicious meal.

Lunch was a quiet affair by Rose's standards, her parents took her to a Muggle restaurant for a nice meal before bringing her back to the Burrow. In the short time that they had been gone the entire place had been transformed, piles of presents had appeared all over the yard and giant red and gold balloons were scattered around the enormous tent that had been set up. The house also had a vague feeling of being on fire due to the many red-haired relatives who were in attendance.

Glancing briefly around the yard Rose smiled like the 11-year-old she was and jumped straight into opening her presents. Many of them were useful things that she would need for school, robes, cauldrons, and the like, but she also got plenty of things that she did not need, much of it coming from her uncles' shop Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Her favourite present, though, was a tiny owl, much like the one her father had had in his youth.

To top of the festivities an owl from Hogwarts appeared halfway through dinner to give her the official welcome she had been waiting for, Rose Weasley was a witch, and in two weeks time she would be heading for Hogwarts. This was quite possibly the best news of her short life and she spent the entire rest of the party with the letter clutched tightly in her hand. She held onto it long after she had fallen asleep, she only let go of it when her mother Hermione put her in her own bed at home and gently prised it out of her hand, reading over it herself in preparation of the shopping they would have to do.

That very same day, on the other side of the country, another child was far less happy to celebrate his birthday. Scorpius Malfoy was, despite the striking resemblance, very different from his father, far from celebrating his roots the way his family had for generations Scorpius was more inclined to hate his family for the shame that the entire Wizarding world placed upon them.

After narrowly escaping Azkaban on the actions of his mother, Draco had hidden away from the world that had now turned against him. Marrying another survivor of the Death Eater's ranks, Astoria Greengrass, he had slipped into the obscure life of a family man, working as a consultant for Borgin and Burke's when absolutely necessary, but mostly just living off his family's ancient wealth. It had been, for the past nineteen years, a simple, and less than horrible, life.

But today, the secrecy would finally start to come down for Scorpius, prized heir and only child of the Malfoys had finally reached the age of eleven, it was time for him to start at Hogwarts. This was not, in Scorpius' mind, a good thing at all, on those rare occasions in which he had ventured out in public with his father they had been followed by stairs and on occasion, jeers. His father had told him the entire story of the Second Wizarding War, so the reason behind the stairs was not a mystery. And now, when he was off to school, he would be followed by that sort of attention everywhere, and so, it was this day, August 16th that he had come to dread. He did want to learn magic, he wasn't so strange as to want to avoid that, he just wished that he could learn it without having to interact with any students.

Knowing his father would expect him to appear with dignity today of all days, and knowing that his father expected him to join in the pride that he had for their family Scorpius dressed carefully in a black suit that, far from making him look frightening, emphasized the smallness of his body and the pointed paleness of his face. Brushing his hair back carefully as he walked down the stairs, Scorpius sighed, this would be a long year.

Disclaimer: As you all should know...I am not the creator, nor the owner of the Harry Potter universe.


	2. The Hogwarts Express

The Hogwarts Express

For Rose, the next two weeks were the slowest of her life, even visiting Diagon Alley to buy all the stuff she would need for school was hardly exciting enough to placate her. She paced around the house so much that her Ron had to threaten to ship her away to the Muggles to make her stop. But finally, after eleven years of waiting, it was time to make the trip to King's Cross.

That trip was, in her parents' minds, the worst car ride of their lives. Ron, who had only just passed his Muggle driving test was jumpy, Hugo was whining because he couldn't go with his older sister, and Hermione was practically wringing her hands she was so worried that they had forgotten something. Once they had reached the train station Hermione sent Rose off immediately to find a compartment in which to sit. She left at a near run, Hugo following like a lost puppy.

After dropping her drunk off Rose shooed her brother out of the compartment for a moment before changing quickly into her Wizard's robes, the feeling of confidence and happiness they brought with them as welcome as the silky feeling that they had as they slipped over her signature red hair.

Once she was certain that the robes were perfect rose opened the door to reveal herself to her eagerly waiting brother. He clapped for a moment before their identical dark brown eyes met and he burst out into laughter like only one's younger brother can. Hitting him lightly on the arm Rose led the way back to her parents hoping that her cousins would appear soon.

Waiting with her parents Rose was overjoyed when Albus, looking almost green appeared out of the mist. "Hi." He sounded extremely relieved to have found them, likely because it meant that James had left being far too 'cool' to hang out with little first years. Rose craned her head around for a second looking for that missing sibling, but he was gone, and the steam was too thick to see where he could have got to.

Their fathers were having an animated discussion about parking of all things, and the younger children were discussing, just as excitedly, the houses that they would like to be in. Rose barely noticed when her father said something to her she was still peering eagerly around the platform looking for all of the cousins, she saw almost everyone, only James and Victoire were missing.

She turned back to her father just in time to hear him tell her first to beat a young blond boy in school , then not to be too friendly with him, not that she would anyways. It was at that moment that James appeared for the first time, fairly exploding with some secret or another. Sure enough within ten seconds he had directed all members of their party to listen to him before he burst.

"Teddy's back there," He gave a vague gesture in the direction of the train, "Just seen him! And guess what he's doing? Snogging Victoire!" Looking less than thrilled with the lack of reaction that everyone, especially the adults, and shown, James tried to emphasize how important this new was.

"Our Teddy! Teddy Lupin! Snogging our Victoire! Our cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing-" James' voice was rising with every excited syllable that he uttered.

"You interrupted them?" Ginny asked with a wry smile. "You are so like Ron..."

"-and he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away, He's snogging her!" James had continued through his mother's comments trying to make the rest of them aware of how important this was.

Lily had begun to talk but Rose was more interested in looking around the platform for the couple. And sure enough, a minute later she saw them creep back onto the platform and share a last, quick, kiss before Victoire got quickly onto the train, her ears exactly the same colour as her uncle Ron's turned when he was embarrassed.

Just then Ginny ushered them all onto the train amid hurried goodbyes and many a tearful hug. Ron promised Rose he'd write to her in a day or two right as the train began to move. Lily, unknowingly following in her mother's footsteps began to run after the train waving frantically, tears streaming down her face.

On the train Rose was beginning to settle in for what she was expecting to be a very long train ride. Now that James was freed from his mother's watchful gaze he was mercilessly teasing his younger brother, taunts of Slytherin causing his brother's face to grow gradually more and more green. Once James was satisfied that his brother's face would be a sufficient match for the colours of Slytherin he bid them farewell shooting out of the cabinet to find his friends.

Rid of the distraction that was her cousin Rose was free to look around her compartment, aside from her and the still green Albus there was the strange blond boy her father had pointed out and a pair of older girls who were busy laughing at something one of them had said. The little pale boy, Scorpius she remembered, seemed to think that they were laughing at him. He curled up under his cloak as she watched.

Suddenly Rose felt very tired, all of the excitement that had been building up for weeks was gone, she didn't even feel like comforting Al out of the depression his brother had sent him into. She pressed her long, freckled nose to the window ignoring the increasingly loud and annoying sound of girlish laughter.

"Firs' years this way! O'er here first years!" The familiar bellow of Hagrid the games keeper echoed out over the train station just like they had for almost seventy years. His figure was still unstooped with age and his mass of black hair still reflected the torchlight, all in all, despite his age Hagrid was still an impressive figure, towering over the first years he had in his charge.

Scorpius reluctantly separated himself from the mass of students making their way towards the gate to follow the other first years down to the boats. Unlike many of the other children, especially those who were Muggle-born, Scorpius knew exactly how this ceremony was to work, his father, having already broken nearly ever tradition that his family had held, decided to spoil the secret for his son, and thus to separate him even more surely from the majority of the student body.

Stepping down into the boat Scorpius was quickly joined by two other students, neither of whom, he could clearly see, were excited to be sharing a boat with him. One of them was clearly a Weasley, her red hair glowing even in the poor lighting. Beside her he could see the Potter boy, clearly marked by the trademark black hair. It was obvious from their hushed conversation, and the colour of his face, that he was more than a little nervous about the Sorting.

_Not that he has anything to worry about_, Scorpius thought to himself, _he has parents whose primary concern is not their son's house but his education, to whom tradition stops at being at Hogwarts._ Scorpius let out a quiet sigh as the boats suddenly began to drift across the lake to the castle.


	3. New Beginnings

New Beginnings

It was only when they finally reached the Entrance Hall that Rose felt the nerves that she had been holding back for years finally start to sink in. By the time that they had reached the room in which they were to wait for the Sorting, she was shaking so bad that even Albus, the notoriously green, was laughing at her. Sticking out her tongue at him she collapsed into a chair that had been provided for just such a purpose, glad of a moment to compose herself before she had to be judged in front of the entire school.

After a moment, Professor Lynnette, the Defence Against the Dark Art's Master reappeared. She was a tall, regal seeming woman with piercing blue eyes and her hair pulled back into a tight braid. She organized the first years into a quick line before marching them out into the Dining Hall. Rose, fearing the worst after the storied that her cousins, especially James, had told her, was about halfway down the line, between Al and a short blond girl. Once they had all entered the Dining Hall, Professor Lynnette put down a small three-legged stool and an old raggedy looking hat. Rose looked at the hat with a smile, anything that looked that worn-in could hardly be the terror she was looking for.

After a moment of tense silence from the first years, and anticipation from the rest of the school, the hat began to speak. It wasn't loud the way a speaker would have to be, it was simply heard because the entire Hall was silent to hear the scratchy, unassuming voice sing its song.

"_Twenty years, it's nearly been_

_Since these halls did cease to quake_

_From fear that nearly can be seen_

_From Voldemort and his great snake_

_But evil will not lurk in those_

_Who as a house do bring cheer_

_To others who are far and close_

_Remember friends must be kept near_

_In Gryffindor remember that,_

_The brave at heart must strive to be_

_Humble, and above all else_

_Friends to those who are in need_

_For Ravenclaws, of bright sound minds_

_They must still remember_

_That those who are not quite as bright_

_Are still a glowing ember_

_Those Hufflepuffs with loyalty_

_That wavers not at all_

_Must make sure to think or else_

_They'll engineer their fall_

_And at the end falls Slytherin_

_Cunning, wise and full of pride_

_Somehow they must manage_

_To work with those outside_

_In each house there can be_

_Virtues great and small_

_And when they work together_

_Their strength can conquer all_

The entire great hall burst into cheers when it was clear that Hat was finished. After a moment Professor Lynnette stood up and quieted the students down, obviously not wanting to let them get into the swing of being noisy. She cleared her throat briefly and then began to explain the process for the benefit of the first years.

"When I call your name you will come up, place the hat on your head, and sit on the stool, the hat will then decide your house and you will join them before we start the feast." Hearing that the hat would play a role in the ceremony a few Muggle-borns let out a chuckle. Professor Lynnette silenced them with a glare before continuing. "Now, let us begin. Alderton, Karl."

"Ravenclaw!" The hat's decision was emphatic and almost immediate, the quickness serving to calm the nerves of many of the first years.

The line of first years slowly shrank until the moment Scorpius was dreading arrived, his name was called and he heard, or at least imagined, a loud hiss coming from every direction. He walked slowly up to the stool, his feet dragging every step of the way, and placed the frayed hat carefully upon his perfect blond hair.

_Hmmm, interesting, another Malfoy, haven't seen one of you in ages. You seem a little different though, resentful of your father, still trying to please him, oh my, this is a tricky brain. You're plenty brave enough for Gryffindor though I see your father couldn't bear the shame of that. Full of brains too, I see. Plenty of loyalty, though I suspect that is misplaced. Cunning, too, but hardly the disdain for others of a true Slytherin, I suppose at the end it has to be...GRYFFINDOR!_

Scorpius knew that that the entire hall could hear the last word, and he was unsure of how he felt about it. He knew that his father would be livid; he knew that it was not what anyone in the hall expected. He had expected Slytherin, everyone in his entire family was in Slytherin, how was he supposed to deal with being the source of hatred for hundreds of years of his ancestors? Not that he wanted to be in Slytherin, his father would have been proud, but still, he was hardly sure that he would fit in with that sort of people any more than he would fit in with people from Gryffindor. He had never seen eye to eye with his father.

Rose watched Al being sorted, almost feeling the waves of joy that came off him when the hat yelled out Gryffindor. Then, all too soon, it was her turn. She slowly walked up to the stool, dreading the experience. Then, as she pulled the hat up, things seemed to slow down until she placed it unceremoniously onto her head. The hat almost seemed to have made up its mind without even touching her head; it entertained the notion of Ravenclaw for less than a second before screaming out Gryffindor. Happy she fairly bounced over to the Gryffindor table taking her seat between Al and the strange blond boy, astonished at his very presence. Once Al, among many cousins, had given her a congratulatory hug, she turned to watch just in time for Meryn Zabini to be sorted into Slytherin.

Once the sorting was finished the dishes on the magnificently set table all filled with delicious looking food. Rose, having not eaten a bite on the train, filled her plate, careful, from her mother's upbringing, to include plenty of the mouth-watering vegetables that were littered liberally across the table. Once her plate was full she began to eat, quite content to ignore Scorpius Malfoy and enjoy her first meal in her new home.

A/N:

I actually updated within a reasonable stretch of time; aren't you proud of me? I think that you should be. And, to show how proud you are, I think that you need to respond by writing me a review, tell me something you liked, or something you hated, I don't care, but drop me a line. :)

Meglin


	4. First Years

First Years

The first years were quick to settle into the routine of life at Hogwarts, helped along by the prefects, and hindered by the antics of Peeves the poltergeist. Scorpius, however, was having a particularly hard time finding his way around. He, like the other first years had learnt that the castle was not the most forgiving place, the moment your mind wandered for a second from wherever you were headed it was liable to change on you, but it seemed that the castle was particularly nasty where he was concerned. He could hardly find his way from the dormitories to the Dining Hall in the morning, even with a Prefect three steps in front of him.

By the end of the second week of September Scorpius was fed up, he'd gotten a detention from Professor Longbottom, his head of house, for being late to three classes in a row, and was set to lose them the house championship all on his own if he didn't stop losing points for his lateness.

It didn't help that most of the school hated his guts merely for being a part of his family; the only person who would talk to him was Rose Weasley. And it was obvious from the way she spoke that she was only trying to be nice, she didn't _want_ to talk to him. She was polite enough when they were paired in class or when he asked her to pass him things at meals, but he would not delude himself into believing that she actually liked him.

It wasn't like he needed friends anyways; his father had always maintained that it was important he keep himself separate from the common folk, that he not stoop to a lower level than befitted someone of his birth. Not that he had ever taken any other piece of advice his father had given him. But there had to be some truth in the ideals of his family, they had once been respected by all, and they still held a sizeable fortune, surely somewhere they had the right idea.

Rose looked across the breakfast table at the boys in her house, the first years had taken, for no reason that she could imagine, to all sitting together at every meal, boys on one side, girls on the other. It wasn't as if they sat together so as to talk with each other, or work on homework, it just seemed as if they could think of no other way to take a meal, and so the habit stood because no one, her included, seemed to want to break the comforting ritual.

Rose had been, like usual, the last one up that morning, this meant that she had gotten, as was often the case, stuck on the end of the silent row. While this meant that she had some elbow room it also meant that she was very limited in who she could watch. And watching was what Rose loved to do. It wasn't that she was shy, or disliked conversation, she was just partial, a good deal of the time, to watching what other people were doing, listening in on their conversations, and just being, in general, a snoop. Across from her was Emmett Livingston, beside him sat Gareth King, neither of whom were, in her opinion, particularly interesting, especially when they weren't talking. She longed to sit across from Scorpius, the interplay of emotions across his face was interesting, to say the least, plus, no one else would even acknowledge him and she felt bad for that.

Rose let out a heavy sigh that attracted, if not glares, then certainly looks, from the rest of the first years. Once they had looked away she sighed more quietly and picked up a piece of bacon, resigning herself to a quiet, and in all likelihood boring, meal.

Mondays were, in Scorpius' mind, an instrument of torture thought up to test his will to stay at Hogwarts. Not only did he have to wake up early, but the Gryffindors had to endure an entire morning of classes with Slytherins, and as much as most Gryffindors hated the Slytherins he knew he hated them that much more. The represented everything that was wrong with his father, everything that his family had ever believed, and potions, with a decidedly pro-Ravenclaw teacher, Professor Gaggle, was almost the worst thing he could imagine.

This made Mondays incredibly difficult for him to even contemplate, let alone actually sit through.

"Master Malfoy, I believe that we are reading page 371 of our books. Even if you feel like you have a firm grasp of the concepts involved in an Engorging Potion I would still personally feel much better if you followed the requirements of being in my class." Gaggle's shrill voice penetrated easily through his wandering mind and called him back to class.

"Sorry Professor, I sort of just-" he began to think of an excuse but she quickly cut him off.

"No excuses boy, read the pages, and kindly refrain from discussing them with Weasley." She gave him stern look from atop her long nose before swooping off to confront Emmett, who was animatedly describing something to Albus Potter.

Scorpius looked over at Rose wondering what had made Professor Gaggle think that he would even think about talking to her. It was true that this was Rose's best class, and, therefore, the one in which she felt as if she had the most right to talk, but their conversation was fleeting, at best, and stunted and stuttering at worst. He shot Rose another quick look before rummaging in his bag to retrieve the book in question. He had just found the page and begun to read when, for the second time that class, he was startled by a female voice.

"I won't be offended if you actually listen what she said." This time the voice was Rose's and, as a result, was not reminiscent of the squealing of a tea kettle.

"What?" Scorpius looked at her blankly for a second before realizing what she had said. "Oh, well I was, actually." His response sounded brusque and clipped, even to his own ears, but Rose, much to his surprise, smiled.

"That's hardly surprising, you never say much anyways." Rose's voice had fallen until it was barely more than a whisper; obviously she was trying to avoid Gaggle's notice for as long as possible.

"I say plenty." Again, his reply was short. "When there is someone to say things to." He added, trying to prove his point.

"Maybe you do, but not here." She smiled again. "Here you're always quiet, although," she dropped her voice even lower, making it seem almost like they were engaged in a conspiracy "I can tell you have thoughts of things to say, every, single one is written on your face. You're very easy to read." She leaned back, looking almost pleased with herself for saying that.

"There is no chance you know what I'm thinking, none at all." His response was quick; he could feel a small bubble of anger building, coming close to the surface.

"Of course I do. You're annoyed I'm talking to you, instead of letting you read, curious as to why I would even want to talk to you, I haven't before, a little bit embarrassed that you were just yelled at, and, of course, surprised that I am getting all of this right." She flashed him a last smile, giving him a chance to compose himself for she had; he had to admit, been right.

"Go read now, I'll stop annoying you." With that she turned back to her own book and promptly buried her nose deep inside its covers.

A/N:

Another update :) Aren't you happy with me? Anyways, I'm going away soon, so this is close to be the last update for a while...Hope you enjoy it. Send me a review to let me know what you think :).

Thanks to Avanell my favourite reviewer.


	5. Friends

Friends

The next morning at breakfast Rose decided to start something, instead of taking her designated place on the end, she wormed her way into the middle of the line so that she was sitting between Scorpius and Al. She gave them both a smile as she dumped oatmeal into her bowl, they looked at her with mildly shocked expressions before shrugging to each other and starting on their own breakfasts.

"So, we need to think of a way to make sure that we make it through History of Magic. I suggest we take turns taking notes, because I personally do not want to have to pay attention to Binns for more than I have to." Rose's comments caught the boys off-guard, both had gotten so used to the silence of the meals that it almost felt wrong to speak.

"Sounds alright..." Scorpius responded hesitantly. "But I am not going first."

"Rose you know my notes will never, ever be up to your standards, you don't want me in on this." Albus' face had risen at the idea of skiving off in class, but realizing the amount of work this actually required he bowed out.

"Fine Al, but there is no chance you'll copy my notes." Rose stuck her tongue out good-naturedly to let her cousin know she was only kidding.

"Rose, Aunt Hermione ALWAYS told you to say that to me, didn't she." Al's voice was veering dangerously close to whining. "She never said to start so early."

"Of course not, but I have to teach you." Rose smiled at him one last time before plunging into her rapidly cooling breakfast.

Scorpius was perplexed by the way that his new friends interacted, their good-natured joking was something that he had never really encountered before; sure he had read books where people joked rather than acting gravely serious, but his father was not one to ever indulge in such a thing. So he watched. He contemplated taking notes, as to fit in better with the Gryffindor dynamic, but he was sure that that would only get him laughed at. He did, however, put in his best effort to try and memorize the words that were spoken around him, certain that, eventually, he would learn how to properly banter.

Transfiguration that day was a complete disaster. Having friends made it much harder for Scorpius to concentrate perfectly on what Professor Collins, the head of Slytherin, and a notoriously strict man, was saying, this was something that was, unsurprisingly, on the list of things that Professor Collins found quite unacceptable.

The day began well enough, he took the place that he had occupied for much of the term between Emmet and Gareth who were, if not exactly his best friends, certainly not detestable. This did not, however, last long. The second that Rose walked into the classroom she descended on him in a fit of excitement and promptly poked him hard in the arm.

"What do you think you are doing? You do not get to sit back here as if you hadn't agreed to be friends with me." The indignation she was feeling was evident, a slight red blush had started on her ears and was slowly conquering her face. Scorpius quickly stood up, mumbled an apology to Emmet and then hurriedly followed her to where she sat at the back of the room.

"Why do we have to sit together in every class? I already sit with you in Potions, and I could do Charms as well, it isn't as if Professor Lynch would care at all, but Transfiguration too? Collins will kill me." It was only after this rushed torrent of whispering that he noticed that the teacher in question had entered the room.

"Mister Malfoy, I do believe that class has started, kindly return to your seat." Collins had a voice like a bass drum, he commanded authority in much the same way as a drill sergeant.

"He would sir, but I think Rose might kill him." Gareth's voice, floated lazily from where he sat in the front.

"Mister King, implications of murder are hardly acceptable, I hardly think it should be necessary for me to remind you to hold your tongue as I am told that Professor Gaggle has already given you a detention for this very same reason. Now," Collins spoke remarkably fast for how low his voice was, "Mister Malfoy kindly distribute these matchsticks so that we might begin."

Scorpius nearly ran to the front of the class. He hurriedly grabbed the matchbox and distributed them among the class before sitting next to Rose again.

"Today is, as most of you may have guessed, our foray into the practical side of Transfiguration. We will be putting the practical knowledge we've been studying for the past week into practice. All of you have a matchstick in front of you? Good, ten points to the first person to successfully complete the transfiguration." Professor Collins finished speaking and waved his wand, emitting gold sparks. Those, they had learned, meant that he was allowing them the liberty of talking, a rare thing that they took full advantage of.

Scorpius turned immediately to his matchstick, muttering the incantations under his breath and praying for the best.

"Really Scorpius, you aren't even expecting to talk to me?" Rose's voice broke his concentration.

"Well actually I was going to try and transfigure my matchstick. I do like earning points for my house. I'd have thought you'd like that too." Scorpius was annoyed already, Rose was ruining the perfect relationship he was working towards with Professor Collins.

"But it's such an easy spell." Rose's voice sounded almost lazy, a trait that was obvious in the way that she flicked her wand. The matchstick that was sitting on the table flickered for a second before lengthening and turning a bright silver. "There, you see?"

"Rose has done it, Professor!" Al, who had been keeping quiet on Rose's other side yelled to get Collins' attention, evidently wanting to avoid that honour going to a Hufflepuff.

Professor Collins gave her work a cursory glance before repeating Al's announcement. He then grudgingly awarded her the ten points he had promised.

"How did you do that? I didn't even see you move your wand?" Scorpius was fuming by this point. He had tried _so_ much harder than she had.

"Well I did. But anyways it's more about wanting it, and the incantation. The wand movement is secondary, or that is what my mum told me." Rose didn't seem to care that he was glaring at her angrily.

"Your mummy, because she obviously knows so much." Scorpius let all of his father's ideas come across in his voice. "Why can't you just let me be, I would do just fine if you weren't bothering me with conversation." Scorpius was fairly yelling by this point.

"She just wrote a book on it, so you know." Rose's own temper was beginning to show, not playfully like when she had come into the class, but like the Weasley she was. "And obviously she knows something if I can do it easily and you can't even make your matchstick pointy." Rose slammed a hand on her desk before standing up and swooping over to her cousin, Lucy Weasley's, table and dropping into the empty seat to the left of the other red-head.

That was when the class got really bad for Scorpius.

"Mister Malfoy, I believe that I have cautioned you once already about making a disturbance in my class?" Collins was standing about two feet away from him, but he had not taken the care to lower his voice; as a result half of the Hufflepuffs were now sniggering under their breaths.

"Yes, Sir." Scorpius' voice, by comparison, was barely more than an embarrassed whisper.

"As Miss Weasley is the only one to have successfully transfigured anything thus far, you should wait until you can do the same before you engage in any sort of discussion. If I have to speak to you again it will be a detention. Do I make myself clear?" Collins fixed him with a very stern look before he responded.

"Yes, Sir. It won't happen again." Scorpius looked at his teacher for a second before his eyes returned, rather happily to the un-transfigured matchstick on his desk.

"You shouldn't be talking to him; you know what his family is like; you've heard all of the stories, same as I have." Lucy's voice, barely more than whisper, was filled with disapproval.

"He isn't like that, honestly." Even though she was angry, Rose didn't feel it was fair to agree with her cousin; she never had before. Lucy has a habit of acting exactly like she thought he father, Rose's Uncle Percy, would expect her to. She had a deep-seated love of rules, and was poised to lose any chance at friendship due to her habit of telling on the other first-years.

"How would you know? You met him like a week ago; he could be biding his time." Lucy hissed back.

"He is nice. I don't even think he _likes _his father."

"That is irrelevant. Every Malfoy ever has been evil. Stop trying to be friends with him. His father hated your parents; you don't want to associate with him. It's bad blood." Lucy started to turn away, signalling that she thought she had the final word.

"Should I remember everything I've heard about your father then?" Rose braced herself for the fury she knew was coming, that was a low blow.

Lucy gave a small sniff. "Molly wants to talk to you, she would like you to find her after dinner." She obviously believed that responding to such a comment was below someone of her intelligence, so she returned to transfiguring her match-stick.

A/N:

So, summertime, I hope everyone is enjoying it as much as I am...like I said last time it will be kind of erratic when I update this so don't expect me to update every day, I will do my best though...Happy Summer everyone :)


	6. Fighting

**Fighting**

Dinner that night was a tense affair, not least of all for Al. He was trapped between his, still angry, friends, with no real ideas about conversation. Scorpius, sitting to his left, could tell that he was feeling the heat of their anger, but was not ready to forgive Rose on her cousin's account.

Once he had eaten the last of his steak and kidney pie Scorpius set off, determined to finish his homework, an essay on simple transfiguration of inanimate objects, quickly and well, hoping that that might save him from future displeasure from Professor Collins.

Rose was dreading her meeting with the older of her cousins. Although she had more in common with her uncles than she had ever had with her sister or her father, it was still frightening to contemplate the meeting they might have. Molly was old enough to be one of the big kids. In every memory that Rose had she was only a tall figure, mystical because of her beauty, and loved because she did not have Victoire's disdain for the little kids.

Still, family summons were not something that she would ignore, her parents had taught her that much; so, having finished the last of her dinner she set off, hoping that finding her cousin would not be something that took up her entire evening.

As it turned out Molly was in one of the places you were most likely to find fifth years, the library. Rose, nervous to interrupt her when she was so deep in her studies eventually sat down at her table.

"Rose," Molly's voice was kind, though her expression betrayed her unhappiness. "My dad has set me a task."

"You don't understand." Rose's protest was out of her mouth before she had realized that her anger with her blond friend was gone.

"No, that would be my father, I understand perfectly well, you love him already, and he will break you." A strange sadness was present in Molly's voice, as if she had more than the weight of fifteen years on her shoulders. Then, as if stepping out of a trance Molly returned to her normal voice. "I was actually just trying to give you a birthday present, my mum thought she'd sent it off already but she hadn't."

As the present changed hands Rose was confused, this was hardly the sort of thing that Lucy would have known about. And it was definitely not something that would have lent the superior tone her cousin had. Rose thought a moment then returned to the first topic of discussion.

"Thanks, I guess, but what do you mean, I love him? He's my friend, he has no others. And anyways, I don't see why everyone feels the need to lecture me about this, it is _my_ business who my friends are, I mean it isn't as if you let your dad meddle in your life." Though she had begun happily enough her voice was, by the end barely more than a whisper, she barely had the energy, the fight with Scorpius, topped with the little amount of sleep she'd been getting at Hogwarts had made her feel weary down to the bone, hardly up for another argument.

"You'll see later, it is merely a warning." The sadness was back. "But Rosie, seriously, get some sleep, and enjoy your present." Molly ruffled the hair of her younger cousin before turning back to her book on preparing for OWLs. Rose, content to follow the advice her cousin had given her, set off for her dormitory, and the nice warm bed it contained.

Scorpius, sitting in a particularly comfortable chair with his book in his lap, barely looked up as Rose entered the room. He was still not particularly interested in being friends again, especially as she was probably only going to distract him from his work. So, content to leave making up entirely on her head he buried himself in the book; trying desperately to find a passage on the importance of wand movement in basic spells.

A/N: A summer off really lost a lot of momentum on this story for me. I apologize for how short this chapter is, but I don't really want to leave it any longer. I'll try to keep you updated but understand the pressure of school.


	7. Halloween

Halloween

October had always been Rose's favourite month, even muggle Halloween was a holiday that had always filled her with a feeling of giddiness she could not control, and the fever of the Hogwarts version had only magnified that. It started in late September and consumed her until the actual day of the festival. It was, therefore, unsurprising that she never really managed to make up with Scorpius, he had settled into his schoolwork, determined to call as little attention to himself as possible, and had just sort of drifted out of her thoughts, it wasn't as if she didn't _want_ to be friends with him, it was more that she didn't think it worth the effort unless he actually wanted to be friends with her. Besides Al was a perfectly good best friend, for all that he was her, less-than-exciting, cousin.

Halloween, though, that was exciting. The ghosts were floating around ten times as often, the hallways had magically gained pumpkins for decoration and the entire atmosphere was almost unbearably festive. It was all she could do not to skip from class to class, barely remembering that she was not, strictly speaking, supposed to enjoy any classes, (even if only one period), spent with the Slytherins.

"Miss Weasley, kindly contain yourself." Professor Gaggle's voice rose across the classroom for the third time that period, startling Scorpius into nearly ruining his potion. After spending weeks on Engorging potions they were now attempting the opposite, a Shrinking potion. His potion was the perfect shade of green and had just begun to bubble, exactly as the book recommended. He was, therefore, slightly resentful of Rose, whose potion was also turning a lovely shade of green, for being able to chatter at Albus while she did her work.

"Yes, Rose please stop talking, some of us actually like our potions to turn out." Scorpius knew that he sounded angry, but wasn't sure, after their falling out, how she would take it.

"Well then some of us should measure our leech juice." Rose's response was hardly what he was expecting, a few weeks before she would have said something similar, but her tone would have indicated that she was at least considering what he'd said; of course she'd have kept talking anyway, but she'd have at least acknowledged what he might want, but now she just glared at him, waves of rage nearly pouring off her.

"What did I say?" Scorpius hadn't meant to sound whiny, but that was how it came out.

"What do you mean: what did you say? You obviously cannot stand me. Everything about the way you talk to me makes me think that you would rather me dead than disrupting your precious potions. You don't need to say anything more; I'll try not to distract you." Scorpius looked at Rose with shock. That wasn't what he had meant at all.

"You...think I hate you?" Scorpius had past the point of just whining, he was nearly in tears.

"Obviously, I mean, you haven't talked to me in over a month, how else am I supposed to take that? Should I think that it means you're shy? Well I knew that, but you still spoke to me before! I got the point, you don't want friends, you want to live in your own world, fine, but don't complain when I don't treat you like my best friend." Rose was filled with rage; she had, at some point in her rant, stood up so as to give her lungs more air to scream at Scorpius.

Scorpius, for his part could do nothing more than anyone else in the class, he just stared at her, mind blank with shock. He had just assumed that she had given up on him, and had figured that that meant there was no point in trying to be friends again. He hadn't realized that wasn't how it was supposed to work; he'd never really had any friends before.

"Miss Weasley! Please take your seat!" Professor Gaggle, silent throughout their discussion, could afford to ignore them no longer. Her voice, harshly calling them to task pierced the room. "Kindly stay back at the end of the class, I believe that we have a detention to arrange."

Scorpius looked sharply down at the floor, once again not sure how he was supposed to respond.

Rose looked hopefully over at Scorpius, knowing precisely what her father, or her uncles, would have done in such a situation. They would have burst out that it wasn't fair for her to get detention when everyone was talking, knowing full well that it was fair, she completely deserved it, she really had been screaming. But that wouldn't have mattered, they'd all have wound up in detention, and it probably would have been a grand old time, if their stories were to be believed. Of course, she reminded herself, they hadn't actually hated the people they should have defended, so perhaps the situation was slightly different.

This was supposed to be the best day of the year, it was Halloween, it was supposed to be marvellous. But then that stupid boy, who didn't even want to be her friend, had ruined it. She sighed heavily, wishing that the class would just end; forcing herself to concentrate on the potion in front of her, she felt a tear slide slowly down her cheek.

"Rose, I would like to extend an apology." Scorpius knew his voice was formal, but he didn't really know how else to apologize. He had waited after class for the opportunity and was now debating whether extending a hand for her to shake was too much.

"For hating me? I suppose that it really is only fair, it goes back generations, why should I expect us to be different." While she was no longer yelling, it was impossible to miss the rage still boiling in her voice.

"No, for, for, ignoring you I suppose is the best word. I didn't really mean to. I just thought that you would still be angry with me." Scorpius tried to smile at this, not sure of how she'd react.

"Angry?" Rose's anger had been replaced with a sort of confusion. "But it's been a month! Who stays angry that long?"

"My father. Not that he'll let on about that, but he stays angry for years." Scorpius voice had dropped to a whisper; he could not let the other children of his year hear him discussing his father that would bring far too much trouble.

"My father lets my mother do all the getting angry, or Gran, but she's fearsome." Al had caught up and was attempting to lessen the tension.

"Gran is terrifying! I can't see how Uncle George, or even Dad, survived her. I'm not actually sure that James will." Rose grinned at this, her anger lost once she realized how lost Scorpius was in this new world, not the world of magic in which they had all grown up, but the world of people, the world of friends. "I'll tell you what. Save me a seat at the feast, I've got to scrub off all the desks in the potions room after the afternoon classes. If you do that we'll call it even. We can be friends."

"Deal." Scorpius extended his hand, for once feeling like he was doing the right thing.

A/N: I'm back, startling I know :P

Fitting isn't it, their reunion, and the creation of a group of three happens on Halloween, no troll this time, all the better for them.

Scorpius' life sucks, as you are soon to learn, but really, with Draco, someone whose own life was far from wonderful, as a father what else is there to expect?

I am going to actually try to finish this, review and who knows, it might happen :).

My mission for the next chapter: make Al talk!


	8. Parents

Parents

"I'm sick of being famous." Al flopped in the comfiest armchair by the fire, Rose, who had spent the past hour steadily devouring a box of cauldron cakes as she attempted to finish her potion's essay, looked up. It was late November and all of their teachers had assigned a landslide of work to be completed before the Christmas break.

"Why?" Rose spared her cousin the least amount of attention possible, dipping her quill and scribbling a few more words on the parchment.

"You aren't famous, sad to say. Nobody cares what you do my darling brother." James, who had appeared enthralled in his game of exploding snap, replied at the same instant. Al replied by sticking out his tongue before continuing.

"But I am, Emmy Fox from Ravenclaw spent all of dinner watching me across the Dining Hall, and yesterday all of the Hufflepuffs giggled when I walked into Charms, and then did it again when Rose and Scorpius walked in two minutes later. Obviously we aren't just regular kids." Al had started sat back up with the intensity of trying to prove his brother wrong.

"But Al, that doesn't meant that you are famous, it just means that mum and dad are." James was shaking his head, amazed at his little brother's foolishness.

"I knew that, but it means that I am too." Al, despite his kind and naive nature, was every bit as stubborn as his father. "If people are staring at me, it means that they are thinking about me, even if it's related to dad it is still _me_ they are talking about." He crossed his arms in front of his chest, succeeding only in sounding whiny.

"Dad is the Boy Who Lived no matter what you do you will always be his son. You are not famous, you are a little boy." James hated when his brother acted like a little boy, it reminded him far too much of the fact that he was still a child too, not one of the celebrated big kids, all of whom were in at least their fifth year, and quickly approaching adulthood.

"James, you're being mean." Rose looked up briefly from her homework. Despite her rebuke she silently agreed with the older boy, it was all about their parents, and Al was an annoying brat sometimes.

"But he is wrong." James was nearly glaring at his brother across the table and chair that separated them. Rachel Thomas, who had been occupying the chair fairly sprinted across the room, having felt the blunt end of James' temper in the past.

"Doesn't change how mean you're being." Rose was never one to let a fight go.

"Yes it does, I'm only thinking of his ego. I don't want to live with a goody-two-shoes who thinks that he's better than everybody on top of everything else."

"I am not a goody-two-shoes." Al broke in, real anger rising in him. "I understand that dad is really, really famous, and that mum is pretty famous too, but that doesn't stop me from being famous too. I mean, I even found an old Prophet article from when we were kids talking about us and the aftermath of the war. Obviously-"

"All that proves is that you are the son of someone who defeated the worst Dark Wizard ever. Nothing more." James cut across his brother with a tone of scorn in his voice now. Rose, trying her best not to laugh at how red her cousin's faces were getting, was surprised that neither of them had turned it into a full-on shouting match.

"BUT I AM STILL FAMOUS, AND IT SUCKS!" Albus screamed the last sentence at his brother before running up the stairs to his dormitory. James, similarly overcome with rage stalked out the portrait hole, leaving Rose alone to wonder what had prompted Al's unusual bout of talkativeness.

Scorpius stood in the Owlery poised to open the letter he had received from his parents, the first of the year, with dubious excitement. Despite the disappointment he was sure the letter contained, he was almost happy to have some sort of communication from them. He'd never even gone for a sleepover before, living at Hogwarts without even a letter was a huge change.

He'd begun the year with a letter every few days, at first sharing every detail of his life, from his sorting down to what his favourite meal had been, everything. But slowly, as the replies failed to come, he had let his letters dwindle down to a cursory scribbled note on Sundays. He would have let them stop all together but he feared the wrath of his mother if he ever did so. But now, with this letter, he would finally have written proof of how they felt.

If he ever managed to open it.

Taking a deep breath, he winced, and then slid his finger under the formal seal, and, preparing for the worst he unrolled the parchment and began to read.

_Dear Son,_

_ We are delighted to hear that your train ride went well and that you are doing well in your classes. We have spoken at length on the matter that you mentioned in your first letter home and wish to discuss it with you when you return home for the Christmas Holiday. We shall pick you up directly from the school as we are spending the holiday in Spain. If you have anything you require as a Christmas present please reply by return owl._

_Please find enclosed a bottle of the best sleeping draught that money can buy. Professor Longbottom, a disgrace to the school if he hasn't changed, has written to say that you are having trouble sleeping. This worked before to take care of the nightmares and we would rather not have you falling asleep in class; it is a dreadful habit._

_ As for that Weasley girl we suspect that your quarrelling is due, at least in part, to her poor upbringing, no properly bred girl would argue as you've said. We caution you to make the best of your poor situation and try to make the right friends. I've heard that Master Davis is in your year, and he has lovely parents and would surely make a delightful friend. _

_ Now, we are certain that you have school work to accomplish, scamper off, and try to do us proud in other areas._

_ Sincerely,_

_ Mrs. Astoria Malfoy and Mr. Draco Malfoy_

The letter was even worse than Scorpius had expected. The formality of it didn't surprise him at all, but their outright refusal to mention his house worried him. It could mean that they had accepted this departure from family customs, but was far more likely to mean that they were not at all pleased with him but were waiting to punish him until he was at home.

Scorpius sighed over his confusing parents before beginning his descent towards the Gryffindor common room.

When Scorpius entered the room Rose all but leapt at him badgering him to see if he knew anything about what had set Al off. When he begged ignorance of the entire affair she quickly explained it to him. Scorpius only laughed, certain that Rose was overreacting in thinking that Al actually had a reason to contemplate their lives.

When that conversation lulled Rose noticed the letter that was clutched safely in Scorpius' hand. Her curiosity piqued she lunged across the couch on which they were sitting and snatched it from between his fingers pausing only to wave it at him tauntingly before settling in to read it.

"That's mine." Scorpius was torn between the knowledge that he would have to wrestle it from her like her cousins would if he wanted it to remain a secret and the desire to remain a gentleman with good deportment. "It's private."

"Secrets between friends?" Rose's face was gilded with mischief; she knew his response already and chimed in as he gave it.

"It is my business what my correspondence says. I demand that you give it back to me." The sight of Scorpius, who was still so small, looking so prim and angry all at once, was enough to send Rose into a peal of laughter.

"But Scorp, you know I want to know everything." Rose pouted at him, trying to get the reaction out of him that she would get out of Teddy or Victoire.

"I DON'T CARE! IT'S MINE!" Scorpius was angry, it was awful the way his parents talked to him in that letter and he was certain that Rose would realize it far more than he had.

"Fine, but please at least tell me why I can't see it." Rose wasn't ready for another full on battle to erupt after the scene with her cousins.

"It's…just my…my…parents." Scorpius began haltingly. "They finally replied to all the letters that I sent them, but they didn't even mention my being in Gryffindor."

"Maybe they are decent people and don't care?" Rose cut in.

"Maybe, but you don't know my parents. They didn't forgive my aunt for years after she married Uncle Davies, and he was only a Ravenclaw, and a pure-blood. They never forgave half the people in my family, and they absolutely hate yours. So I see no way that they couldn't care." Scorpius felt a tear escape his eye and make its way down his cheek. "They've told me all about their Slytherin friends, and the Slytherin way for as long as I can remember."

"They could have changed?" Rose winced as she said it knowing how unlikely that was.

"Never. But it's fine. I'll face them when I get home." He gulped at the thought. "Now let me read your potions essay, I'm three inches away from being done and would be nice to have Saturday to skive off."

"Fine but only if you let me read yours too, that was in the original deal and I have nothing to say about proper harvesting techniques for those stupid Bezoars."

A/N

Finally over 10,000 words. I wrote this instead of doing all of my mounds of homework…oh well, at least I accomplished something. If you are a super bored human, check out my blog. It is probably exceedingly terrible, but whatever, some people might enjoy it.

Christmas comes soon, something that is obviously not going to go well for Scorpius, but sit tight to find out what happens amongst all the festivities.


	9. Quidditch Games and Bad News

Quidditch Games and Bad News

The Quidditch season was something that all the first years, especially those who came from Wizarding families, were looking forward to. The atmosphere had been building for weeks when, on the final Saturday of November, the morning of the opening match, an exciting one between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw dawned crisp and clear. Scorpius, who had spent the better part of a week being informed that this game was the most important Quidditch match of the entire year by Rose and Albus, was not in the least surprised to find out that he had awoken with about as much desire to go to the match as if it would end with him fighting a Hungarian Horntail one-handed. Still, he knew that if he didn't go his father would just have one more reason to be disappointed in him. So it was, with a heart full of guilt that he trudged down to breakfast, dropping to the vacant seat next to Al with a sigh that alerted the world to his troubles.

"It's Quidditch day! It's Quidditch Day!" Rose practically sung as she slid into the seat opposite them. "What is the problem with him?" This question was directed at her cousin, not the depressing image of a boy in question.

"Dunno, he sat down looking as if a Hippogryph had just eaten his best broomstick." Al looked over at Scorpius and the combination of glee and empathy was impossible to resist, Scorpius immediately burst out in a loud peal of laughter.

"I just, have never really been that fond of Quidditch." Scorpius considered his friends incredulous faces and shrugged. "My dad loves Quidditch, but he doesn't think that he can afford to be seen at any really good matches. So we watch rubbish teams and he spends the whole time just winding himself up and getting more and more angry. It never ends up well." Scorpius shrugged again, watching Rose process this information.

"But this is different! Hogwarts Quidditch is brilliant! Or so James says every time you mention it to him." Rose beamed at him as she shovelled her plate full of scrambled eggs, the mentioned boy coming up behind her at the same time.

"It is!" James practically fell into the seat beside Rose. "Only, I'm not sure that I'm meant to be playing in it!" The reason for his abrupt entrance was clear; his face was a shade of green that rivalled the colour of the Slytherin banner while his ears had turned to match those of Gryffindor hanging above his head. He was the new Gryffindor seeker, having inherited much of his parents' talent for the game. He had also, it appeared, inherited some of his father's nerves.

"I'll try it, but no promises." Scorpius smiled at his friends in a conciliatory manner before devouring his toast for all he was worth.

Having left breakfast a good twenty minutes before most students had even arrived Rose, Al and Scorpius got nearly the best seats in the entire pitch. And as such they saw every moment of the game clearly. It was a brilliant match, despite the lacklustre commentary from a very squeaky, out of breath third year. The chasers alternated goals, bludgers were fair but ferocious and James, nearly fell off his broom knocking Cecilia Lang out of the way in his quest for the snitch. He did manage to catch it and the game ended amid a shower of scarlet and gold sparks shot into the air by every Gryffindor there.

The party following that was enormous, rivalling the end of the year parties that almost invariably ended by the head of the house coming in and ushering the students off to their dormitories, with many muttering about the cruelty of the whole situation. Rose was thrilled with the entire thing, flitting between conversations and drinking at least half her weight in butterbeer.

And then there was Scorpius, he spent the first hour nervously hovering in the corner before shuttling himself off to bed, taking Al, who was not impressed, with him.

The next morning everyone awoke to a pathetic day. The air seemed soggy and even the ceiling of the dining hall slowly leaked a grey mist. A group of seventh years who had managed to acquire a case of firewhiskey spent the entire day hexing anyone who made any amount of noise resulting in an extraordinary amount of work for Madame Pomfrey.

Scorpius, rather heartened by the surprising amount of fun he had had at the Quidditch game, sat quietly, but with a fierce amount of happiness radiating from him. He was waiting for Rose and Al, ready to gloat in the fact that he had already finished the transfiguration essay they had been set. He was, therefore, extremely puzzled when neither of them appeared by noon. Figuring (correctly), that they had not got a lot of sleep the night before he hurried off to lunch, certain that by the time he returned, they would have woken up and be ready enough to revel in his genius.

At the Gryffindor table Scorpius briefly spoke to Emmet Livingston before devouring a piece of Shepherd's Pie. He then returned to the common room to find it nearly empty, no sign of either of his friends. He headed up to the dormitory, determined to wake up Al, at least. Once he reached the top of the stairs he was shocked to discover the empty dormitory. Nearly panicking, he practically sprinted down the stairs, crashing into Gareth on his way. Offering a short apology he continued for a second before realizing that he should ask the other boy.

"Gareth?" He called up the stairs. "Have you seen Rose or Al?" Scorpius' voice was faint and he was out of breath.

"Nah, they went with McGonagall somewhere, all've that family did. I think you were at the library then…" Gareth trailed off as Scorpius once again started down the stairs.

"Thanks." He managed to call up the stairs before setting off in the direction of McGonagall's office.

Rose could hardly believe what the headmistress was telling her. Her father was missing, sent off to trace a bunch of Neo-Death-Eaters on a secret mission. He was supposed to have returned by Halloween. It was now the last week of November. She felt the tears streaking down her cheeks, felt her ears turning the shade of red that they always did when she was feeling anything, just like her father's, but nothing else felt real.

The letters she had received from her mother hadn't changed; the ones from Mid-October had the exact same tone as the one she had gotten three days ago. Not sure what to do with this information she listened in silence as her cousins asked their questions. He wasn't their Papa, they could conceive of a world without him. She could not. Abruptly Rose got to her feet.

"Professor," Her voice was hesitant, "I need to go finish my homework." She did her best to hold herself steady, let them think her fine or cold or brave. Anything, just not weak.

"We'll let you know as your mother keeps us posted." McGonagall's voice was quiet, soothing almost, not what Rose wanted. She looked briefly at the woman, letting her fear show through for a second before screwing up her face.

"Do that." She said simply and walked quickly from the room, not for a second looking like an eleven year old.

Scorpius, sprinting down the hallway with an unshakeable fear that something bad had happened nearly ran into Rose. Once he saw her he skidded to a stop, panting as he tried to squeeze out the words to ask what happened.

"M-m-my dad. He's missing." Rose had nearly stopped the tears by this point, but having to tell what had happened to a boy who had never known the feeling of a family brought it back to the surface. His arms were around her in a second, no longer the awkward boy of every other day. They stood like that for almost a full minute before Rose broke away and took off towards her room trailing her best friend like a lost puppy.

A/N:

So I have a blog, or I pretend that I do anyways, it is listed on my profile thing, so if you enjoy this, even a little bit, try reading it. I am overly dramatic, and probably overemotional, but hey, that can be funny. Check it out; I am actually trying to post. I also have like a month off now, so I am trying to actually post both here and on my blog. Wish me luck. Oh and, as always. I beg you to review. Even if all you say is that you like fish. That is honestly great input, and I will then try to add fish into my story. I know, I am a giant silly. But that is why I am great, or so I tell myself.

Cheers,

Meglin


	10. Holidays

**Holidays**

Rose stepped off the train feeling as lost as ever. It was weird to think of Christmas without her mum and dad. Weirder still to think that her mum would ever do something as crazy as take off to find her dad. Mum wasn't even an auror, that wasn't her job! This was one time when having a giant family was a good thing, her cousins would never let her concentrate on the lack of proper parents, there would be far too many snowball fights and Christmas cookies for her to remember that. Or so she hoped. Forcing a smile on her face Rose set off to find her aunt and uncle, treated to the happy reminder that she still had one family member, in the form of a crushing hug from her little brother.

Watching all of his friends get on the train to go home for Christmas had not been something Scorpius had enjoyed. Rose, Al and James were all headed off to the Potters to spend a worried Christmas with Harry and Ginny. Hermione had taken off to find Ron a week before, her fear for her husband getting in the way of her love of the proper channels. This had left her daughter, Scorpius' newly rediscovered best friend a wreck. Both parents being gone was more than an eleven year old could deal with.

Scorpius was faced with a very different prospect. He had received one more, short, letter since the one his parents had sent him in mid-November stating only that his grandfather, Lucius Malfoy, had been released from Azkaban and would, accordingly, be joining their family for Christmas. Although he had only met the old man once, he had heard enough stories to expect the worst of this holiday. Not only would he have to suffer the cold harsh disapproval of his parents, but he would also have to deal with one more judging adult in his life.

With the brightest face he could muster Scorpius wrestled his trunk down the stairs. It only made him hate his parents more. If he had left the day before, like a normal kid, then his trunk would have mysteriously appeared on the train. That was how it worked; his parents would have demanded that a house elf bring it all down. But they had never been subjected to the terror of Rose in mid tirade. She had inherited her mother's love of all magical creatures and had, accordingly, made him swear off using them a few weeks before. He was now regretting that decision.

Finally getting the trunk into the Great Hall Scorpius collapsed on top of it to wait for his parents. Using the, newly enriched, vocabulary of a school boy he cursed Rose for doing this to him, he was sweaty and hot, and was about to meet his Grandfather. He had contemplated wearing his nicest robes for the occasion, but had, on reflection, realized that they were not nearly warm enough for leaving the castle of a brisk December day. This would not, he realized, have any ground with his parents, they were so icy he didn't think they could get cold. He moaned at the thought of their withering looks and flopped even further on his trunk. They could find him as dishevelled as they liked. Parents like Rose or Al had wouldn't have cared.

Christmas morning in the Potter household dawned cold and early, with Rose thinking about her parents for the first time that holiday. Any other year she'd have woken Hugo up the second the sun rose, but it didn't feel right. To do so she would not only have to wake up Lily, whose room she was sharing, but also Al who had been quite nice about the whole affair, but was obviously starting to hate being followed around by the younger brother he had never had. She sighed and lay back down on the bed, depressedly looking out the window, sure that none of her cousins would ever have been this nice to her.

It only took a few minutes of moping before she realized that someone else was in the room. Someone who was giggling uncontrollably, and someone, she quickly grew to realize, was being corrupted by his cousins. Hugo's head popped out from beneath her bed and his face split into a huge grin, distracting Rose for the crucial moment. While she was preoccupied with giving her little brother a lecture on the unseemliness of him being in there at this hour, the giant pile of dung bombs that had been hovering above her head, an early Christmas present from the lovely James, no doubt, fell and exploded, causing a giant green cloud of a noxious scent to erupt and quickly fill the room. Rose and Lily ran quickly from the room, screaming all the while, their presents left in a pile on the floor.

Scorpius spent Christmas morning in a gloomy state. He knew his friends were probably enjoying heaps of presents and snowball fights and everything else that led to a magical Christmas, but he, on the other hand, had only a few ill-considered presents from his parents. A Slytherin scarf being the most memorable. He had received a box of chocolate frogs from Rose, but even devouring the entire box had failed to put him in a good mood.

After the charmingly formal breakfast that was among his family's peculiar traditions he managed to escape the house, finding some solace in a friend conjured from snow. He attempted to magic the snowman's hair to red, but all he managed to do was melt it. This left him in such a rage at how unfair it all was that, upon returning to his room, he shattered his window. He then, much to his displeasure, had to have his mother come and repair it when snow started blowing in.

Knowing that he was the only kid in his year who couldn't stand holidays did not help Scorpius' feelings, so, knowing that diner would not begin until much later, he lay down on his bed. He was so sick of his stupid family that he, for once in his life, let his emotions out and cried himself to sleep, knowing his father would detest the sight of him.

"JAMES SIRIUS POTTER," Ginny's voice, echoed through the house, obviously unimpressed at being awoken at such an hour by a prank. "HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU OFF FOR THIS HABIT OF SETTING OFF DUNGBOMBS?" She paused for a moment to clear the smell from the air as Harry pulled his two sons into the room. "I'll have all of them now." She held her hand out expectantly, ignoring the look of surprise on James' face.

"Mum it wasn't me; I would never have done something so childish. I've moved on to more adult things now." James puffed out his chest and made as if to leave the room, a grin plastered across the face.

"Do not for one second think that you can pin this on your brother, young man. He has never so much as hidden your sister's Teddy Bear. I am certain he does not have the stash of dung bombs that would be necessary to pull off this sort of stench. And I do not, for a second, believe that this is the last of them, I will have all of the dung bombs in your possession in the next minute or you will spend the evening inside with the adults." Ginny shoed him with her hand, thinking for a second on the merits of having the biggest pair of pranksters in decades for older brothers. James ran quickly out of the room terrified that she might go through with her threats.

"And you," She rounded on her younger son, "There isn't a chance you didn't know about this. I expect you to at least try to keep him in line." She looked at Albus sternly.

"But mum, he's MY older brother, isn't he meant to keep me out of trouble?" Al, smiled his best smile, sure his mum had calmed down enough to not really be mad at him. Sure enough, she smiled at him and ruffled his hair before following James out of the room, muttering something about his uncles.

Harry had been watching this all with a bemused expression on his face. "Your mum is exactly like her mum when she gets mad. It's frightening actually. Now, go open your presents, we're expected before lunch at The Burrow and it wouldn't do for you to not have your jumper on." He gestured at his own attire as his son grinned and ran from the room.

AN:

So, surprise of all surprises is that I haven't died. I know, it's weird. But suddenly the deathly writer's block that I had been experiencing around this story vanished. It just went poof!

I am very sorry that it had been so long, I'm expecting everyone who ever cared about this story to have vanished by now. But I have another chapter pretty much written! And it is not pretty, for Scorpius anyway. Not that this one sheds the best light on his home life. However, the Weasley family gets along just as well as can be expected, despite James' pranks.

I have an idea, for anyone who doesn't want me to disappear again…Review! Or follow me, or something. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. Or check out my blog, that also makes me grin!


	11. Christmas Gifts

**Christmas Gifts**

Scorpius sat down at the table for Christmas Dinner, his stomach a giant pit of apprehension. He had, for the most part, avoided his parents. He had also, much to his surprise, avoided any conversation about the house he had been sorted into. He was guessing it was due to the presence of his grandfather. His father had barely been seen and his mother was tiptoeing around trying to soothe everyone's tempers. It had been the weirdest week he had ever spent in his house.

He could, however, tell from the look on his father's face as he came into the dining room that it was not to last. There was a look of cold fury in his eyes that Scorpius had never seen. He had always been prone to rage, but he had never seen this particular brand before. It was, he realized a moment later, exactly the same as the expression that graced his grandfather's face. Lucius Malfoy was not, it could be clearly seen, a happy man.

"What house are you in at school boy?" Lucius looked at his grandson with a look that had Scorpius shaking, as bad as his father could be sometimes he had never come close to such a look. He was also worried that his grandfather hadn't sat down; it was not fitting with the perfect etiquette that he was sure ran in the family.

"Gryffindor…sir." Scorpius tried is best to sound properly respectful, unsure of the consequences that would fall upon him if he didn't.

"Gryffindor? Pah." Lucius gave a snort of derision. "Not even original in your betrayal of the family. Every pure blood son who couldn't handle it has gone there. You want to end up like them? You want to be like Sirius Black? You're just another one of those. Another blood traitor." Lucius placed his hand on Scorpius' shoulder pulling him from the chair before he continued. "Come boy, we are going for a walk." The clamp of his grandfather's hand on his shoulder did not leave Scorpius with much choice. So he left with only a pleading look at his mother by way of protest.

The Weasley family dinner would have seemed, to one who wasn't familiar with the family, completely normal. However, to a more practiced observer there was an element of tension running through the air. Everyone was still joking around, the kids still smiled and the food was just as delicious as it always had been, but the jokes were forced, the smiles strained and the food was being eaten just a little bit faster than normal.

But they were getting through it. For nearly half the dinner they got along fine with no one mentioning the pair who were, most conspicuously, absent from the table. It was driving Rose crazy. To take her mind off it she turned her attention to what was quickly becoming a very interesting discussion at one end of the table.

"Now Teddy, what's this I hear about you and Victoire?" Bill, despite being quite decidedly middle-aged, still sported all of the features that his mother had hated in his younger self. He still had long (if slightly greying) red hair and still sported a skull earring in one ear. This did not make his comment any less terrifying for the young man seated to his left.

"Well you see, we've been dating for several months now papa." Victoire gave her father her sweetest smile, unsure if this was the sort of conversation that was meant to happen in front of all one's relatives.

"Your daughter is truly lovely, Sir." Teddy surprised even himself with this formality; he had never called Bill Sir in his life. He had hardly called his professors that at school!

Bill fixed him with a look before continuing. "I understand that my daughter is lovely. I raised her to be such. And, while I think that you are a lovely choice of a son in law, I will have you treating her properly." Both of the couple in question blushed at this comment.

"Y-you have m-my word of honour on the matter." Teddy spluttered.

"DAD! We aren't engaged! I barely even see him!" Victoire's high voice pierced the slowly closing silence that engulfed the table at the same moment. That silence hung for a few seconds, no one daring to break it, lest Victoire turn her ever sharpening tongue on them.

"Finite incantatem." Lucius Malfoy looked down at the crumpled form of his grandson and sniffed. "You took that better than expected; perhaps there is some truth to that bravery nonsense." Scorpius, limp on the ground could only whimper, the pain had been so intense that now, with it gone, it was all he could do to breathe, all he could do to think, and keep control of his body.

"You should thank me. At least I maintain the standards of this family and expect you to uphold them, rather than give you free rein as my son so obviously has. Think of this lesson, a lesson in the importance of family, as my Christmas present to you. That," he paused menacingly, a small smile playing across his mouth, "and your life. You should thank me very much for those. I would not have been as…kind to Draco." Lucius pulled Scorpius into a standing position. "Now, we have a proper dinner to attend, with appearances to uphold." Lucius released him after a second before sweeping off to the dining room where Scorpius' parents waited.

"James, did you say that you've been made seeker again this year?" Later in the dinner Ginny changed the subject to one that had, obviously, been keenly awaited, beaming over at her eldest son. "We'll have another pro in the family if you keep it up!"

"Mum, you go on about Quidditch more than dad does, really. Just because I was the youngest seeker Hogwarts has pretty much ever seen doesn't mean I have to play forever." James grinned over at his younger brother as he said that, practically daring him to comment.

"James, that isn't fair! You flew way more as a child than Al or I ever did." Rose rushed to defend Al's honour, also knowing, though she would never admit it, that she was just as much on the line as he was.

"Well I can't help that you took it in your minds to joust and get yourselves banned for a year." James smiled smugly at the memory. "I never know anyone off a broom if it can be avoided. It usually is taken as cheating, anyway." He directed the last part of the comment to Hugo, who was poised right beside him, soaking in every second of his majesty.

"What's cheating, then?" A voice emerged from the doorway, throwing James, and Quidditch from everyone's minds. The voice was hoarse, as if even making a sound was hard to master. Despite this quality it was the sound of the best Christmas present that anyone in that room could have wished for. As its owner, none other than a Ronald Bilius Weasley stepped into the room his daughter let out a squeal so loud it caused the ghoul in the attic to be silent for a moment.

The squeal was not, however, long, or loud enough, to block out the disapproving sounds of Hermione's voice as she followed her husband into the room.

"I should hope that no daughter of mine would ever be cheating." Hermione's voice had a similar, painful quality about it, one that made the adults around the table shudder.

"I haven't mum I promise, that was James talking about Quidditch." Rose gave her mother a very hard look before pulling both of them, and her little brother, into the tightest hug she had ever experienced.

"I know dear. Now let's eat, I haven't had a proper meal in a week. And your father hasn't had one in God knows how long." Hermione conjured a chair for her husband and one for herself before shooing her daughter back to her own chair. Ron sat immediately and just as quickly began filling his plate, shovelling more food onto it than any of them thought possible.

"I've got a long and not kid friends story to tell you, mate." Ron paused, looking, for just a second, at Harry, before shuddering and beginning the process of transferring his newly claimed food to his mouth.

"Scorpius." Draco spoke for the first time that meal, breaking the uneasy silence that held them all. "Your mother and I have discussed it. And we are very disappointed in your choices thus far at school."

"Choices?" Scorpius' voice, barely a whisper, still seemed to echo through the silent dining room.

"Yes, your choices to betray what this family has stood for for centuries. Now, we know that there is certainly no way that we can change the house you have so treacherously chosen to inhabit, but we will have you know that there shall be no associating with blood traitors. If that means that you have no friends, then so be it. The purity of our blood is more important than happiness." Draco touched his son's chin for a second, forcing Scorpius to look into his eyes. He nodded once before letting go, allowing a different sort of silence to fall over the group, one which made Scorpius extremely grateful.

AN:

This was not, by any means, a happy chapter was it? But it was pretty important in terms of plot. Poor Scorpius, but you knew the Malfoys would not be happy with him. I couldn't see Draco as ever being that harsh, but with Lucius back in the picture…ohhhhh baby. This is not a good situation.

And you should be very, very proud of me for posting again. Second time in 3 days. I am a good person…

On an unrelated not I have recently gone on a fruit fly killing spree. Yupp, the tiny, buzzy, and bloody annoying things have invaded my room so I am doing my best to eradicate them. I'll let you know of my progress in the future. But I killed at least 7 while writing this chapter. So I suppose it is brought to you by the death of tiny insects.


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